Part IV Adding Words, 8 Principle 8: Implied Terms

Subject(s):

Construction of contract — Interpretation of contract

This chapter considers the circumstances in which the courts will imply terms into contracts. Words are implied into a contract if the parties must objectively have intended them. This will be the case either if they are so obvious that there was no need to express them, or if they are necessary to make the contract work in a business context. The chapter discusses the controversies which have arisen in recent years concerning the scope of a court’s ability to imply terms into a contract. It discusses the tests for the implication of terms and gives practical examples of when they have been applied.